Yves Klein: Monochromes and Empty Space

Monochrome Propositions (19491957)

Yves Klein took up monochrome painting at the end
of 1949. At the time he described this activity as "a means
of painting that is against painting, against all the anxieties
of life, against everything" [Stich 1994, pp. 23/253].

Aleksandr Rodchenko's earlier monochromes demarcate the point where
art ends, and direct our attention to the uncharted territory "beyond
art". Yves Klein re-invents the monochrome as an icon for the
end of art, but for him the end of art is not a line which is to
be crossed. His perspective is strictly artistic: the end of art
is the ultimate stage of art history; it is a space rather than
a point. Klein embraces the painting of monochromes as a way to
practice art during the end of art. This paradoxical activity has
a mystic charge: transcending art = transcending everything = transcending
the vicissitudes of life.

Expression du Monde de la Couleur Mine Orange, 1955

1955

1955

1957

1957

Blue Monochromes (1955-1962)

Klein's discovery of the radiance of pure cobalt
blue pigment (International Klein Blue) gave rise to his "Blue
Period". The IKB paintings create a very intense visual sensation
with hallucinatory overtones. They pioneer a new art of "pure
light". At the same time, they function as conventional, figurative
signs: they depict "cosmic space".